Facts about Ariel's Cryovolcanism
- 09
Bright linear features crisscrossing Ariel's surface suggest that cryovolcanic material was preferentially erupted along pre-existing structural weaknesses and fault zones throughout the moon's history.
- 08
Ariel's cryovolcanic features span approximately 40 percent of the moon's surface, indicating that icy volcanism was a dominant resurfacing process throughout its geological history.
- 07
Ariel's cryovolcanic plains exhibit thermal gradients indicating subsurface heat retention from radiogenic decay within the moon's rocky interior approximately 2-3 billion years ago.
- 06
Ariel's cryovolcanic valleys display complex cross-cutting relationships suggesting multiple episodes of eruption separated by significant time intervals across the moon's geological history.
- 05
Extensive canyons on Ariel suggest that cryovolcanic resurfacing covered older impact craters, erasing evidence of the moon's early bombardment history.
- 04
Ariel's cryovolcanic deposits are compositionally dominated by water ice with possible ammonia and methane ices, creating distinctly lighter-toned regions across the moon's surface.
- 03
Ariel's cryovolcanic terrain features a network of graben and ridges formed by extensional fracturing during the moon's internal differentiation and cooling.
- 02
Ariel's cratered surface shows evidence that cryovolcanic activity likely ceased billions of years ago, with no currently active icy geysers detected by Voyager 2 during its 1986 flyby.
- 01
Uranus's moon Ariel displays evidence of cryovolcanism with fault scarps reaching up to 1 kilometer high, suggesting past icy lava flows.